The Scholar
by Rougemage Nick
Summary: Jay is a traveler and a scholar. From a young age, he was traveling from kingdom to kingdom learning. He's has become very intelligent. While he takes great pride in his great intelligence, he also has what he refers to as the Dark Voice. It's the voice he believes was once his voice of morals, but now it has become what he isn't. Can he control both, or will it consume him?


Jay arrived in Vale and removed his hood. He shielded his eyes against the sun, the glare on his glasses being almost unbearable. He looked around the street, busy as it was even early in the morning. He walked down the street going over his first thoughts. It was a nice place to be sure. His routine came into his head as he walked. 'First, a place to sleep. Second, a job.' Why he needed a pass time, even he wasn't so sure. But as he walked down the street, he came across a Dust shop...It was small, and appeared locally owned. There was a sign in the window that was calling for extra hands. Jay smiled. "Perfect," he muttered. He walked into the Dust shop to see an older woman, possibly early thirties, behind the counter. She wasn't taller than him, and didn't look that strong physically. "What can I do for ya, kid?" she asked immediately. "I'm here about your job request..." he answered calmly. She looked Jay up and down, determining whether or not he would be able to work in the shop. "What'dya know about Dust?" she asked curtly. "Plenty. I studied dust in my time abroad. I know about its applications. I know that in powder form it's much more potent and much more volatile. I know in its crystal form it's not as dangerous, but not as powerful. I know that certain mixtures can produce certain effects. Such as the mixture I make for myself. One part fire dust, two parts lightning, and one part ice. Makes a powerful flare like ammunition that's quite effective in many situations." He spoke without hesitation, or change in expression. She waited for a moment. It was clear she was impressed. "You strong?" "Strong enough..." "You're hired...First things first, come with me." She led him through the door at the back of the small store. In the back was a storage room. It was filled with large boxes marked 'Powder' and 'Crystal'. Most had secondary markings detailing the elemental content. "Fire dust is in high demand these days, so you'll begin by refilling the dispensers with that. The others should be fine for a few more days. After you're done with that, take all the new boxes and move them to this side of the door," she gestured to the right side after entering the room. "These boxes here hold private orders, so ignore them for now. You have an hour. Can you manage that?" "Without issue." he exclaimed. "Good. Tell me when you're finished." She left the room, and him to his work.

He began by going through a fire box or two and getting the small containers to refill the dispensers on either side of the entrance to the store. He put them in bags he found on a rack above the boxes, and used the packing material to insulate them as he carried them to the dispensers. He moved quickly, filling the containers and moving along. She watched him as he worked, and appeared to think he was at least a decent worker. Suddenly she spoke up, which nearly knocked Jay of the ladder he stood on. "That mixture you spoke of...you sound like you use it alot...but that's a mixture used almost exclusively by hunters and huntresses who use Dust based weaponry...I see them often enough, since Signal academy is near by. Students drop by all the time to get supplies of it." "Well I would know of it...I do, in fact, use a Dust-based weapon." He continued to work as he spoke preferring not slow down, as he did have a time limit. "What is it?" "What?" "Your weapon. What is it? Is it licensed?" Jay removed his over-coat to display his Tonfas. Clipped on right above the belt on his back. "Are those?..." she trailed off the question. "Yup. Tonfas...I call the right one Photos, and the left one Umbra." he came down and removed them from the sheaths. "Wow...And the cartridges?" He clicked open the covers on the staff bodies to reveal small glass vials of Dust inside the handles. "WOW...these containers..." She removed one from the handle, holding it delicately as though she was admiring an art piece. "Concentrated Dust mixture. That container is the latest Schnee company model. The small container absorbs almost all shock, so the dust inside is safe even in powder form." "And the pressure...how many shots does this hold?" she asked reverently. "Twenty-one per cartridge, easy." "Wow...that's some payload...And the staves themselves?" "These things are a unique alloy tempered in fire dust. They can interact with my aura. It's what makes them so stable and not wobbly in combat. They can also use a tiny bit of my aura to repair damage using the same basic interactions." "I'm impressed..." she muttered as she gave the cartridge back. He returned to work quickly.

After a while, he returned from the back room. "Done." he spoke up with pride evident in his voice. She turned to see him standing arms crossed, smiling wide. "...Ok. For today, you've shown you can work well. The real work begins tomorrow. Return. 9:30 am sharp. You'll handle the day shift, then the next time, you'll handle Grave shift." "Sounds easy enough...Before I go, I never even asked your name..." "I'm Mickey." "Jay." "Good to have you, kid." He left just like that. He went to a local coffee place and ordered while he got himself a newspaper. He sat and read in the papers "Robberies Continue for Local Dust Shops All Over Vale." The picture of a man with red hair was plastered under the title. His hair draped over his eye, and he wore a smug smile in this shot. "Last night, in the Industrial District of Vale, a Faunus man was found shot dead in the back of a Dust shop. Sources say that this man was actually a thief himself, but was shot by what police confirm as another thief. The murder and robbery is thought to be the works of an escaped criminal by the name of Roman Torchwick." 'Hm...foolish little criminals pulling off petty little crimes...how foolish.' He glanced over his shoulder, and when he did, he noticed something...A man with grey hair, walking with an ornate cane. His glasses hung low on his nose, and he held a cup in his left hand. Jay's eyes flashed gold and he noticed the Beacon symbol on the cup. He smiled a smug grin. That was Headmaster Ozpin, of Beacon Academy. That meant that the women by his side was probably Professor Glynda Goodwitch...She had a stern look on her face, and her cape looked like it was cut in the shape of arrows. Behind her back she carried a Riding Crop... The darker voice at the back of Jay's head had some very explicit thoughts, he quickly waved them from his head though. Jay thought about Beacon for a moment...The School of the Elite...No...No no, he thought...'I don't have that kind of skill...I do some travelling in the Forever Fall, but I'm most certainly not Beacon material...' The rest of the day passed quickly, but the first days always did...He found a nice hotel and paid for two months in advance. Who knows, he may even stay a third if he liked it here.

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><p>While Jay normally slept well, tonight was a different story. He woke up with heaving breaths and a pounding heart...He was remembering a day long since passed...A day he would never forget, but hoped to be passed. He put his hand to his warm forehead...Clearly that wasn't the case. He reached for the water on the nightstand, but before he could grab it, he noticed vibrations in the water. His eyes flashed gold, and he read the ripples...About a mile away, there was something shaking heavily...2...maybe 2.4 tons... He went to the window, and looked out...Smoke was rising from what looked like a Schnee warehouse about a mile away. All sorts of thoughts went through Jay's head, but it was most likely a model 14-13 Spider Droid...Set up as a guard...He thought for a moment. 'Those machines are expensive...They'd only afford that to something really valuable...Schnee Company security protocols...' Then there was a loud bang that shook the ground. 'So it had to use it's mega laser? Must be some thief...' he thought. It didn't concern him though. He went back to bed, and prayed to Castiel that he didn't have another nightmare. But he didn't even get to fall asleep. About an hour later, there was a much more powerful bang that almost knocked him from his bed. He stood up and went to the window. As he looked out, he saw a large dust cloud rising in the distance...His eyes flashed gold, and it looked like it was the peer...'The peer? What happened? Did the thief get what he wanted? If he did that means he took it there as a drop zone...Hired hand...Or the thief went to the wrong place and had it taken from him in a fight...Or was it simply something else entirely?'<p>

The next day he awoke and remembered that he had acquired a job yesterday, and was told by his new boss, Mickey, to be there pretty early...He prepared himself, and went out. In town he passed a news stand, and bought a newspaper. He found exactly what he had expected..."Incendiary Explosion Shakes Vale." He went on reading the article as he got coffee from the adjacent shop. As he sat down with his drink, he read on, "Last night, what police can only called a heavy Fire Dust reaction occurred at the harbor. The cause of the explosion could only have been powder Dust, yet the blast pattern appeared like crystal Dust. A boy was found in the wreckage, his left arm had been almost completely destroyed. As of this morning, doctors say he'll have to have what's left of the arm removed, but he should gain a stable condition after. The blast is suspected to be the work of escaped criminal, Roman Torchwick." He stopped reading and frowned...That's the second time he'd heard that name...He thought about it for a moment...'But so far he's only gone after Dust shops...Not even stealing money...Just Dust...' For a moment he read on, about an article pertaining to the Schnee warehouse break in...Only one thing was reported as taken...He looked down at the image of a small crystal idol. He recognized it from his studies. A unique crystal made by forcing special reactions in different potencies of the same elemental Dust. This one was Fire. It appeared as a crystallized Dust statue, but it held the power of alot of both crystal dust and powder dust. A real weapon, whose manufacturing was no longer permitted. There weren't many left in existence. Then it occurred to him...That statue could easily have produced the explosion at the peer. It would explain the confusion over the cause...He pieced it together in his head. This statue would be something that this...Roman character would go after. He stood and walked a while till he came to the warehouse he suspected the Spider droid to be at...Sure enough, it was cordoned off. The now de-activated Spider stood next to a large hole in the wall. Jay's eyes flashed gold and inside he saw the ruins of about a dozen hand defense droid. 'A very good thief...He or she took the statue, then brought it to those criminals at the harbor...But what thief would've walked into what Jay could only think was an obvious trap?' Then his attention turned to the Spider Droid. It didn't look like it had been that damaged...Some charring on the front, probably an explosion to disrupt the sensors at the head, and buy time to get away...But why didn't he destroy it? He pushed his glasses up on his nose in thought. The drones looked like they didn't even stand a chance...Suddenly the dark voice at the back of his head spoke up 'What the hell was wrong with the fool?! Why did he not destroy it? He had the chance... Look, right in front of you. It fired the Mega Laser...One good shot to the shock absorption mechanism would've blown the damn thing to bits with it's own power...What Cas-damned fool wouldn't have-' He struggled to silence the voice...'Oh shut up already...' "You ok, kid?" Jay looked up at the concerned looking policeman who had spoken to him...Jay composed himself and spoke "Yes...I am fine, thank you. The statue that was taken...How many others like them exist?" The policeman's concern vanished and his face turned to consideration..."I have no idea. You'd want to contact the Schnee Dust Company directly for info like that..." "Thank you, sir." Jay muttered as he walked away.

He got to his work place on time, as he expected he would. Mickey greeted him with a smile and told him just to work behind the counter for a while as she went out for a few minutes. He sat idly behind the desk, waiting for anyone to come into the Dust shop. But he wasn't paying attention. Not really anyway. The thought nagged at the back of his mind...A thought. A possibility. It was unbearable...Finally he decided to check. He walked into the back room. Removing his glasses, he called up his Sight. He looked around slowly examining the contents of the boxes as best he could. And finally...he saw it. In the very back corner, a small box was on top of a small stool. With his Sight he saw a blazing Dust signature...It was shaped in the form of an odd idol...He undid his Sight, and looked at the box. It was small and unmarked. Inside was one of the Dust idols that had been stolen. Jay put his glasses back on and walked quickly out to the front after hearing a customer. He helped as best he could, just hoping they'd leave quickly so he could examine his thoughts. When they did, he sat down. He thought about the idol, and realized...It made this Dust shop one. Giant. Target. Mickey came back after a few minutes. Jay didn't hesitate. "That Dust idol you have in the back...what's that going for?" Mickey frowned. "How...How did you know about that?" "My Semblance...I can see things others can't. Aura, Dust Signatures, Hyper Speed...More power, more clarity. And that thing was blazing in my eyes..." "But...But you wear glasses..." "Yes, while my Semblance isn't active, my eyesight isn't quite as good...I need these for longer ranged vision." She sighed. "That's a piece I acquired a while ago...A friend sneaked it out from under a criminal organization a long time ago and entrusted it to me. I've been trying to get it into private hands ever since, but I haven't gotten any takers." "You read the papers didn't you? You heard about the robbery? And the explosion?" "Those two have nothing in co-" "Don't try and convince yourself of that, because it's clear you don't believe it." "I can handle it, kid. Don't worry about me."The next day passed as the first. He did the tasks set to him in the morning, but left early on account of having the Grave shift that day. He went and tried to take it easy for the day, but his worries lied elsewhere...Then, it was nearly 9:00 pm, and it was time to return to his job.

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><p>The night was calm...Jay sat behind the counter...He was <strong>not<strong> calm, however. The hours passed. Soon it was 11:00 pm. That's when they showed up. He never doubted it would happen. He had of course wished it wouldn't be so soon, much blind optimism was a bit too much to put faith in. A man with red hair walked in with a cane at his side. Behind him walked 4 men with crimson glasses and ties. The man at the front...He recognized him from the papers. In had walked...Roman Torchwick. Jay steeled himself and straightened his glasses...'Time to put on a show.' he thought.

Roman walked up with a flourished gesture, and the men behind him filed in. "Oh boy. What a...quaint shop ya got here." Jay put on a smile for him, "What can I help you with, sir..." Roman looked at him and placed both hands on his cane. "Do ya' know how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" "Quite difficult indeed...We may be small, but people still call us the best Dust Shop in Vale." "Oh, I've heard...In fact, I've heard you have a **special **item in stock. You see I've recently suffered a loss. A small Dust idol, very rare, but I wouldn't expect a kid like you to know...It was...**very** valuable to me, and there are **very** few of them left in existence. So imagine my surprise when I found out that a tiny Local Dust shop has that same statue." "I believe we may actually **have **one of those in stock right now...But I'm afraid it's quite expensive..." Roman smiled an arrogant smile. "Oh no, you see...I have a discount." The men behind him began taking weapons from their belts. Two Tomahawk, one Gun, and one who carried a blade and a gun. Jay let the smile fade from his face. "Please sir...don't let this get to that." "Go find it," Roman said to the men. They all began to move around the square shaped counter to the back room. Jay closed his eyes deliberately, and activated his Semblance. "I will not allow you to get away with this..." he said calmly as he opened his golden eyes. Roman's eyes narrowed, and the smile widened. Jay smiled in his head, and the dark voice laughed in a way he had only ever heard in deadly situations. "Is that so?" Roman cooed as he began to raise his cane. But Jay had been ready for this...The reticle came off the end of the cane and Jay deftly raised his hand to grab the body of the cane. He raised it up to point over his shoulder and held tight. He applied his aura, and prepared to not let go. Jay slammed his other hand against the counter and leaned in towards Roman. "Like I said. I will NOT. Allow. You. To get. Away. With this." Both Roman's smile and Jay's vanished as they stood, both gripping to Melodic Cudgel as tight as they could. Roman tried to remove it from his hand, but Jay held fast. By now the other four had returned and began to point there weapons towards Jay. Jay's eyes scanned them over, assessing their threats...Little. He turned back to Roman, "I'll say this once, and once only. _**Leave.**_" Roman didn't flinch nor did he speak. The dark voice screamed and laughed in joy. His hand shook in anticipation. "Fine."

Jay swiftly reached up with his right hand and gave Roman an uppercut. Blood spewed from his nose as he stumbled back on his feet, and his grip on Melodic Cudgel loosened. Jay yanked the weapon free and without delay examined the workings and inner workings. He smiled slyly "Perfect." The two men with guns had only just began to even raise their weapons when Jay brought Melodic Cudgel level with Roman's chest and pulled the trigger. The shot sent Roman flying back through the door. Jay ducked right and put his foot to the counter as the men pulled the triggers. The bullets passed the spot he was standing, and he leaped up over the counter. As he jumped he re-positioned Melodic Cudgel in his hand. He slammed the handle against the head of one of the men. He then brought in back in his hand and swung it to crack the skull of another of the grunts. Two of four fell, and he brought the gun up and shot another. The last one attempted to shoot Jay in the head from point blank. Unfortunately, he was painfully slow. Jay quickly brought the gun up and shot him down as well. He turned to where Roman had stood for the last 5 second watching his men get torn down. He walked slowly out of the store to stand before Roman Torchwick. He raised up Melodic Cudgel demonstratively. They kept there eyes on eachothers for a moment before Jay threw the weapon at Roman's feet. "Get the picture?" he said in a threatening manner. The dark voices begged for him to wait. Begged for Roman to reach for his weapon and make himself vulnerable. BEGGED for Jay to teach Roman a lesson while he had the chance...But he silenced those voices. If he did ever let that voice come forward...He wasn't sure he'd be able to wrest control from the darkness. Roman slowly bent forward to retrieve his cane. And Jay let him. Roman left without another word.

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><p>Jay went about cleaning and repairing the door before dawn. He had called the police to come and retrieve the thugs Roman had left. Jay wasn't sure why he didn't fight Roman. He was unarmed. He could've won...Something still told him not to fight. The cops had taken the men away and interviewed Jay to ask what had happened. They examined the tape evidence and determined what had happened. The next morning, Jay called Mickey to tell her he couldn't come in that morning, but to make up for it, he'd cover Grave shift again. She sounded sympathetic over the scroll. It was clear she saw what happened. The tape had been leaked to news sources who were calling Jay a brilliant defender. How foolish he thought...He'd have to leave sooner then. He went out for coffee that morning. While he sat and sipped his coffee while reading the article about the robbery in the paper, he looked over his shoulder. Silently he cursed himself for not stopping with that habit. When he turned back however, he jumped when he saw that before him...Sat Headmaster Ozpin. Ms. Goodwitch stood solemnly behind him. Jay straightened his glasses from when they were jolted. He looked across at Ozpin with his mouth still open. "You...you...You're..." "I am Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy. I came here today to speak with you. I noticed what you did in your...impressive display yesterday." "That was nothing...<em>They <em>were nothing. The news is over-playing it..." "And yet, you stole the weapon of a dangerous criminal, used it to beat down his men, and then sent Roman away...That wasn't nothing. Where did you learn?" "...I read a book." "You read...a book? That must have been some book." "Yeah. Practical Combat and Tactical Applications...Written by a man named Qrow...From a school called...Oh what was it.." "Signal's Professor Qrow?" "That's the one. I read that after an incident that happened when I was very young. I decided to forge my own weapons, and trained myself in using them..." "At what school?" "Uh...None sir. I trained on my own, and when I was about 11-12 years old I left home...Of course I send money and greetings to my mother, who still lives there." "Where did you go?" "Kingdom to kingdom...Reading and practicing..." "You must have good balance to train well on Airships between kingdoms at such a young age..." "I didn't travel by Airship sir...I went through the Forever Fall..." "Really? And how did a boy at that young age live long enough to make it kingdom to kingdom?" "My home is close to the border of the Forever Fall in one of the Great Kingdoms. I read a book passed down in my hometown for years that held a whole lot of tricks for dealing with Grimm. Plus, in my travels, I learned a few tricks of my own. And while I may look young, I have a mental disorder. I'm very advanced in just about all that I do. It's been that way my whole life." "Have you ever thought that about attending an academy to train Hunters? Such as my Beacon Academy?" "Once or twice...but even with my ability, I'm nowhere _near _Beacon material." "Why don't you let me decide that." Ms. Goodwitch took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ozpin. "Come to this address tomorrow at 10:00 am, and we'll administer a Placement Test..._Then _you can determine whether or not you're Beacon material." Jay could only nod as Ozpin handed him the paper, stood, and walked away.

Jay was still ill at ease when he walked to the Dust Shop for the Grave shift. He arrived to see Mickey waiting for him. "You're almost late tonight." "Almost. But I've never been late in my life. I don't intend to start now." Mickey smiled. "Thanks for what you did for my shop last night." "I had to do it." She tossed him the keys and walked towards him to go passed. But as she did, she grabbed Jay's arm and whispered without looking towards him, "Be careful. Don't die." With just that, she walked away. Jay waited in the shop. He was nervous. Something felt so very wrong. No one even passed by the street. Suddenly, there was a glow. She walked casually up to the door and opened it. Jay stood up, his eyes blazing gold. She stopped and stood before him. Fear gripped Jay's heart. 'What is this? Why is my chest pounding like a drum..." The woman had a red dress that barely went passed her hips, and puffy sleeves with bright yellow script along them. But none of this was as bad...No...none of this could compare...to her eyes. Jay looked into the blazing red eyes of what he could only describe...as a Demon.

"Who are you?" Jay managed to squeeze out the words with great struggle against his gripping fear. "My name is Cinder. I suppose it's fair to tell you my name...Not that it matters...You won't live passed tonight."

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><p>"You're here for the idol...The Fire Dust weapon..." "Among other things," Cinder muttered as though none of it really mattered. Jay tried to move...Tried to overcome his gripping fear. And he succeeded. He reached for Photos and Umbra, but Cinder wouldn't have that. She raised her right hand, palm outstretched. Her aura became bright, almost too bright to look at. But that wasn't the problem. Under Jay, an aura had began to flare, and there was a whistling sound. Jay jumped back and leaped up onto the back counter. The spot where he had just stood was suddenly blasted by an eruption of fire. Jay immediately began to plan...The fear had faded into a numbing rush of adrenaline. Jay's heart pounded harder now, but not with fear. He realized if he lost, he died here. But maybe if he could hold that off...Just long enough. The camera at the back of the room would capture enough to lead the authorities to this creature. Cinder ran her hand down her sleeve, and her hand caught fire. She threw out her palm again and shot forth blasts of fire at incredible speed and power. This was good for Jay though. Even though it was difficult to look at, the motion of her hand, the twitching of her fingers, the movement of the fire blasts...It was clear to him. He dodged left on the counter, and one of the blasts swooshed passed him. By now he had pulled free his Tonfas, and had already attached the blades to the jumped from the counter onto one of the shelves to the left. The blasts kept coming, and Jay kept moving. He tried to jump from the shelf onto the front of the counter, so as to get a high point near enough to Cinder, but she suddenly halted her attacks. Only for a second. Throwing off the timing, the next blast hit Jay square, as he was making his jump. The blast knocked Jay to the wall at the back. He had no time to recover, the next two blasts hit him square in the chest. He could feel the burns on his skin already boiling him...He couldn't move...Had he already lost to this...demon. What could he do against the force of a creature like this. Her glass slippers clinked on the floor as she walked towards him. She stopped in front of him. The Dark voice was silent now...Why...'Get up' Jay thought...'Come on...you can do it...you don't want to die here...what's your mother going to think?...What about Ozpin...And Beacon...and Mickey...and...the weapon.' This passed his head in all of one second while Cinder raised her hand for one last shot. Jay looked up, looked at Cinder's hand, then looked into Cinder's eyes...Suddenly the Dark Voice spoke up. Another second passed as it screamed at him. 'Look at her...LOOK AT HER! Are you going to let this demon beat you?! DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE LAST TIME YOU FELL TO DEMONS?! DON'T YOU REMEMBER THAT DAY?! You swore...you swore to yourself...YOU SWORE TO ME! Never would I fall to a demon...FOR ALL THOSE WHO HAD!' Jay threw himself to the right, and rolled to his feet in front of the door to the back, and the shot destroyed the wall where he had just sat. Now his mind flew. Options. So many options. But...none of those mattered. None of those was is plan. He knew what he'd do. He raised Photos and Umbra across his chest. Just his arms near the burns was painful, and caused him to sweat...He'd always hated the heat... Cinder spoke up in her disinterested tone now. "My my...You stood up. You think I don't see those golden eyes? Are you watching my aura now? Are you planning now?" Her hand raised, covered in fire. "What are you going to do..."<p>

Her smile grew almost giddy as she raised her hands and shot towards him again. The shot hit the cross dead center, and the dust scattered across his cloak and the wall around the door. She raised her left hand, palm facing upwards, and the scattered Dust began to glow and whistle. Jay closed his eyes and even his Dark Voice muttered support 'Endure it...' The Dust exploded, burning his shoulders, upper arms and upper chest. The Dust on the door also blew up, and the door fell back. Jay almost fell, but his legs didn't let him...His other Will kept him standing. The floor beneath him began glowing again and Jay jumped back, threw the fallen door, into the back room. Cinder followed him, continuing to blast away. Jay stumbled back with each blast, and he could still feel the burns, hurting more with each attack. Again and again, blast after blast, and Cinder's aura didn't appear to fade. Finally Jay was right there in the corner. And right next to him...There it was... 'NOW' he thought. He dodged the next blast, moving away from the statue, but this caused Cinder to falter. Jay immediately moved back to the box and opened it. Before Cinder could stop him, he pulled the idol from it's container, and held it in his left hand, and placed Photos' gun head to it. Cinder's fire faded, and her demonic eyes widened. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The Dark Voices were pleased beyond measure. They screamed with pleasure 'OH YES! THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO SEE! DO YOU FEEL THAT FEAR CINDER?!' "I believe the poker term is 'going all in'." Cinder slowly raised her hands, clearly trying to coax him into putting the idol down. Jay wanted to. He felt the heat of the Fire Dust Idol against the burns, and hit hurt. But he couldn't. He had to do this...

"Do you have any idea what that is?! Do you have any idea what will happen if that goes off?!" Her voice wasn't full of that nonchalant confidence now. Jay chuckled, **his **confidence returning. "Oh yeah. I know exactly what this is. This is a unique weapon...It's not allowed to be made anymore...The Fire Dust Idol." "You foolish child...Hand it over already. There's no way you get out of this alive." "How 'bout that. If I don't get out of this alive...then I might as well take you with me. One less demon the world has to deal with." "I am fire. You think that explosion will kill me? You're a fool. I escaped the explosion of the last idol...I can do it again." Jay chuckled again, letting it rise through his chest to a roaring laugh. "Hm. You really don't get it yet? Look around...You're in a Dust shop. Better yet, your in the storage room of a Dust Shop. The best yet...we just got in the new shipments of Dust today..." Cinder's eyes flicked around the room. New boxes of Dust were cluttered everywhere, with the only open space being the corner with the idol, and a strip the led down the middle of the room. All sorts of boxes with both crystal and powder dust. All sorts of second labels holding all different elements of Dust. "This idol goes up, so does every MOLECULE of dust in this room. And with it...goes everything for half a mile." "You'd never do that. You'd kill everyone for that large a radius?" The Dark Voice spoke through Jay now "I don't give a damn about the life of any of them. Right now...my only concern...is you. If you want me dead...If you honestly intend to kill me...Then I'll destroy...ANYONE I have to in order to take you with me."

They stood facing eachother, neither flinching. "Ya know...I once heard a wise man say...Never kill...unless you're prepared to be killed...Are you?...Cinder?...Are You?!...ARE YOU?!" Cinder turned on her heels and began to walk towards the door. Jay's heart was filled with elation. He followed her towards the door. She stopped before she walked out. Without turning, she spoke almost in whisper, her voice filled with fury. "Next time I see you, no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing...I _**will** _kill you." Jay responded quickly before she left, "That would be very...ambitious of you." Cinder walked out into the night. He didn't let go of the idol though...Not until he couldn't even see her aura. Filled with both happiness and lingering fear as his adrenaline stopped pumping, Jay took a chair from behind the counter, and brought it into the back room. He placed the idol on a powder dust container. Never taking at least one Tonfa off of the point where he could shoot the idol, he removed his glasses, overcoat, and shirt, and rummaged through one of the powder boxes to find Ice Dust. He took out three vials and began to sprinkle it over the burns. It caused pain, but it was followed with relief of the heat...He place on the other two vials as layer and put his shirt back on over it, along with his glasses. He knew the Ice Dust would do wonders for the burn marks...They'd still be there, but they wouldn't be too noticeable. He sat in the seat and pointed Umbra at the statue. He felt he couldn't leave...Who knew who'd be waiting for him. And so he stayed there. He locked up, turned off all lights but one, and sat, pointing his weapon at the idol...until the light shown from the horizon.

* * *

><p>Mickey walked incredulously into the back of the shop. After seeing the door, and the burn marks scattered across the shop, she almost expected Jay to be dead. But as she walked into the back room, she saw him sitting there. Un-moving, he kept one of his two Tonfas pointed at a little Dust Idol he had placed on the boxes. He didn't look up at her as she entered. "Uh...J...Jay?" She stuttered the words, rethinking her surprise at the fact that he remained alive. Perhaps he was just sitting there dead. "...I apologize for the damage, Mickey." "Are...Are you ok?" She was still conflicted...He sounded ok...But he also sounded...*Not* ok. "A few burns. Nothing major." Mickey's face turned from concerned to serious. "Burns? Burns?! Which burns? The burns in my shop? Or did you sustain actual BURNS!" Jay looked up at her slowly. He stood and raised his shirt, displaying burn patterns that looked like paint-ball shots. "Oh my Cas...How did this-" "She came for it...A demon. Her name was Cinder Fall. She used some odd fire attack pattern. I drove her off too." "I said be careful...Do you know what could've happened had this thing exploded?! Do you?! What were my instructions? What were they?!" "Be careful and don't die. I'd say I followed them." You risked your life. Why didn't you just give the idol to her? Why? Was it worth those burns? Would it have been worth dying for? Was your life really less important?" She asked these questions as a mother would question a child's poor judgement. "Perhaps," Jay muttered. Mickey couldn't believe he'd said that. "...No. No they weren't. This was just a statue. It...It wasn't worth your life." They stood in silence for a few moments. Each considering what would happen next. "You're fired...Leave." Mickey almost struggled to say the words, but she forced them with a steady voice. Jay retrieved his coat from the box and reached into a pocket. He put his coat on and took out a large amount of cash, bound by a rubber band. He began to hand it to Mickey, but she shook her head. "You don't owe me any money..." Jay placed it on the box next to him. "Actually, I owe you for the damages sustained during my encounter. I also owe you for this..." After placing the money down, he picked up the statue. "I'm taking this off your hands. You'll no longer be a target of those people." "I can refuse to sell you that. You can't just take it. You're no target either. Look at what that woman did to you..." Jay walked out of the back room and headed for the front door. "Indeed. I will remember always these marks. I'd rather you not suffer the same marks." Mickey was almost furious as she turned to him, "YOU BRING THAT BACK HERE NOW! YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE IT!" Jay didn't turn, but stopped at the door. "Then stop me." He walked out, statue in hand.<p>

* * *

><p>Later that day, Jay contacted Headmaster Ozpin, and informed him that due to unfortunate events, he would have to post-pone his Placement Test. Ozpin was understanding about Jay's situation and gave him extra time. Jay went back to the place he'd rented for two months...At Ozpin's urging, Jay decided to stay the third month, and paid for it immediately. Over the next week, Jay evaded the Dust shop he had been working at. He found a gym for Hunters and Huntresses in town, and decided to go to train regularly. If he wanted to live if he ever encountered the demon again, he'd have to become more powerful. He received calls regularly from Mickey, but did everything he could to ignore them. He knew what she'd say. He knew what she'd demand. The messages she left varied. In some, she shouted in anger, demanding he return the statue, claiming to have burned the money he left. He doubted that. In others she sounded worried and almost paranoid, begging Jay to just give it back, that she'd turn it in to someone who could handle it, just don't keep it. He was touched she didn't want him to remain a target, but he'd have to for a while longer... She also called with a steady voice. Asking him how he was. Saying that he'd not returned her contacts, and questioning his situation. She at least sounded genuine when she asked if he was still alive. Jay knew though...He knew he'd have to stay off of Roman's radar. He evaded dark alleys, never went out at night, wore his hood up everywhere, paid in cash, even did his research at a local police station on Roman's known territory. Anything he could...To buy time. During the second week, he even received a visit at his apartment by police. They claimed they were there about a stolen statue. 'Apologies, Mickey, but you'll have to do better...' he thought. He said he had stolen no statue, that he had nothing to hide. He played his kindest most sincere voice, and was willing and cooperative. During one of his longer, more sleepless nights, he'd cut open the wall and hidden it, and repaired it to have no crease. The cops, taken in by Jay's sincerity, only felt they needed to do a simple look through. When they found nothing and left, he sent a message to Mickey. Just one word: "Sorry..." He didn't hear from her again.<p>

In his travels, he'd done some house work and repair for anyone he could help. In order to have such jobs, he studied plumbing and repair books, only so he could make money. It's not like he needed money much. He traveled through the Forever Fall alot, so he'd saved up a good amount of money by hunting and only buying what he needed. He used the last gift his mother had given him to do it. She'd gotten him a card for an account in a Inter-Kingdom bank. His account wasn't anything to compare to the Schnee company or anything, but he was incredibly well off. He never let this card out of his sight. It never left him. However, later in the month, he decided that his old bag was beginning to become warn out, so he decided to buy himself a nice large dufflebag. This would help him carry more dust with him into the Forever Fall, which meant more valuable resources. After the first month, he contacted Ozpin again to schedule the Placement Test. A week into month two, Jay found his way to a warehouse on the northern end of Vale, at 10:00 in the morning.

"This test may take most of the day. You may not take in any bags, but you may take what you have in your clothing. You may also replenish that supply during the interludes of the test phases." Headmaster Ozpin explained as he led him to a large room, modeled to look like an environment. Maybe it was just perception, but the room looked bigger from the inside...Ozpin found his way to a crow's nest on the side of the building, built in to observe the events below. "How many phases are there?" Jay shouted up to the nest. Ozpin spoke through the mic again, "We can hear you fine. This test has three phases. Each will test your skill, intelligence, and strength, in that order." "Perfect," Jay muttered to himself. He began saving his strength...He'd need it for the test of strength.

The test of skill was easy enough. He was told to bring down targets as they appeared around to room. They were tailored to his weapon, so they were strike-able by both long range and close combat. The targets appeared in sequence around him, appearing, disappearing, then appearing again in patterns. His eyes flared gold and he kept his Semblance active. He saw the pattern. After a moment, he was quickly looking this way and that, watching end remembering the pattern in which they appeared. In his mind, he drew line after line, from target to target. 'Ok then. Let's begin.' he thought. He drew Photos and Umbra, spinning them on the handles with a flourish. They stopped, interacting with his aura and clicking into place with the stave bodies pointing outward, toward the environment. Jay traced his lines to the first target with golden eyes. It came popping up, and Jay quickly aimed and fired. The shot flared towards the target, shattering the thing. The line moved to another next to him. He swung Umbra, the shaft moving smoothly through the soft wood. The line moved again, and Jay took two steps forward to shoot the target. Jay moved meticulously, shooting and swinging in sequence, each target falling after another in line. Of 100 targets, Jay only missed 3...Another 4, he didn't completely break. He looked up at Ozpin in the window and asked in a normal voice "Time?" "This test took about 31 minutes and 16 seconds." Jay wasn't sure that was good, but he focused on the next test.

For the Intelligence Test, four pillars raised around Jay. They varied in size and width, and each had unique marks on them. "Each of these pillars contains an item. You have as much time as you need, but each item is needed to retrieve one of the others." "If I need one item to get another, how am I to get the first?" "That's is your decision. You may do so in any way you see fit. The test begins now." A buzzer went off, and Jay assumed the test had started. Jay looked at each pillar. One was small and fat. Another was large and skinny, and the other two were some odd inverse of the in between. Jay went up to one of the pillars, and examined the marks. It appeared like it had three marks on it. He wasn't sure, but he thought he recognized the marks from his studies in Dust Runes. 'Hm...' Jay considered his options. He closed his eyes and spoke with the Dark Voice. 'What do you think? You recognize these...Tell me about them.' 'You dumb helpless little fuck. You know the answer. It's an Elemental pattern. And take a look...Some of the marks are missing. You may want to begin by looking for those marks. How the hell didn't you know that? How stupid are you gonna get?' 'Oh shut up already. I did know. That's why I asked you. Because I knew. And you are me, after all...' Jay immediately opened the clip mechanism on Umbra's staff, and dumped the cartridge from the handle into his hand. He had reloaded the cartridges twice during the last test, and there was still a small amount of the dust mixture in each cartridge. He walked over to one of the rocks that had been placed in the room for effect. He then took off his coat and wrapped the small container in his coat. Then he pressed this against the rock until he felt the glass crack. He slowly unwrapped it, and removed the broken glass. The dust, that been previously under pressure, had all poured into the coat. He took some of the dust in his hand, and began to sift it through his fingers and hands. The Ice dust fell out of the mixture, and the ground froze where it landed. He then took the remaining fire and lightning dust in his hands and walked over to the pillars. He raised the dust near his face, but still about a foot away, and blew lightly. The dust flew from his hand. The lightning dust interacted with the material in the pillar, and sparks began to move down the length of the thing. The fire dust ignited, and fire ran down with the sparks. The dust combination burned away a layer of the metal on the pillar. At about the middle of the pillar, there was a hole, hidden by the metal which had been burned away.

Jay smiled. 'Thanks for the help...' The Dark Voice spoke up again. 'What else was I going to do? It ain't like your stupid ass would've figured it out. Why don't you just let me take over...The knowledge for this test lies in my piece of us...' 'Not gonna happen. I give over to you, and I'll have to wait until you're willing to voluntarily hand it back...And you're not that type.' 'Ha! Maybe I promise to hand control ba-' 'Don't bother you liar...We're each a Mind Palace for the other...You store what I can't remember, and vice versa. You may have some skills, but remember, I have abilities you don't...I can understand humanity. And I can see yours...You would *never* hand control back just like that...' 'You're not completely retarded then, are you...' the Dark Voice muttered to him, then stayed silent.

Jay took the two small dust crystals hidden inside the Water and Ice Dust pillar. Examining them quickly with his Sight, he determined he now held Ice and Fire Dust crystals. He looked up and examined the other pillars. He walked over to the pillar of Grass and Water. It had a small amount of moss growing on it...He thought for a moment. 'Ahem.' The Dark Voice brought Jay's mind to order, and he slammed the Ice crystal on the moss. The moss all over the thing froze over. Then he slammed the Fire crystal to it, and the ice melted away, along with the moss. In the hole covered by some of the moss there were two more crystals. "Perfect." Jay muttered. He grabbed them and continued the pattern to the other two pillars. At the last pillar, he opened the hole to find the dust crystals he'd have used for the first pillar. He didn't take them, and instead restocked his Tonfa's Dust cases. But as he did this, the pillars sank beneath the ground. After he had restocked, and the cases closed over the stave opening, Jay glanced behind him, where a final large pillar rose up. On it were all the markings that he had just seen on the pillars...But something was off about them. They weren't in the right order, or groupings. He walked up to the pillar and touched on of the symbols. A tile containing the symbol he touched fell from the pillar. He glanced at were it had just been. 'Ok then...' Jay thought, as he took the tiles from the pillar. From the top down, in each of the pairs he'd found them, he placed the tiles into the pillar. It wasn't difficult. He'd only just done this. Did they think he wouldn't retain the order? Did that mean normal people weren't normally able to retain the order? 'That doesn't seem fair to normal people,' Jay thought...'Oh it's fair...I'm better than they are anyway...Let's go kill one of em, just to prove it...' The Dark Voice chimed, and Jay ignored it. When he was finished, the large pillar sank into the ground. Suddenly Ozpin's voice rang out over the speaker phone. "Well done. That concludes the second test. We will now move on to the Strength Test. You have a five minute break between then and now. Do as you will to prepare." And with that he was silent once more.

* * *

><p>Jay decided to take his opportunity for a five minute break. He went into the side hall that ran along one of the sides of the building. Inside there were a couple of round tables, nicely lit. Ozpin walked in through a door on the far wall, which led to the stairs to the crow's nest. Behind him, Ms. Goodwitch walked in carrying a medium sized basket. "That was quite impressive," Ozpin said casually, as Ms. Goodwitch placed the basket on the table next to Jay. "So that means I'm doing well by average standards?" Jay asked, but he already suspected what Ozpin would tell him, and sure enough, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that as of yet. This arrived for you a few minutes ago." "Arrived? Is that allowed?" Jay asked, glancing quickly at the basket, that had a folded piece of paper on the top. "It is. We've screened it for anything dangerous. The person who brought it was very clear of who it was to go to and when. I thought now was the perfect time for it." And with that, both Ozpin and Goodwitch walked off, back to the crow's nest. Jay looked down at the basket, and took the paper from the top. There was a name scrawled in nice handwriting on the paper. He recognized the writing and the name. Mickey. Jay's brow raised in surprise. Mickey? How? When? Why? These were some thoughts that passed through his head. He opened the paper and read from it to himself:<p>

"Thought you'd get rid of me that easy? Well that's not happening. I heard about your placement test. You may wonder how...Well, I heard from a friend working at Beacon that you were spoken to by a Beacon official, and that you'd be taking it at this place today. Now listen. I'm completely willing to let you keep that idol. I'm willing to let you keep it safe...After all, you drove off two high profile criminals in the same week. But...Only on the condition...That you take the meal I got for ya', eat up, and go smash the hell outta this damn test. Blow their expectations of you away, and get your spot at Beacon. Then, I'll completely forgive all your stupid errors in judgement. I'm not sure what you like to eat, so I just got a little of everything, and I tried to keep it healthy. If you don't make it into Beacon here, I'll personally find you, kick your ass, take my idol, and whip you into shape until you *can* get into Beacon. You got the stuff. I saw the footage of what you did to Roman and his crew, so I know you can do this, easy.

Be careful. Don't die."

Jay smiled and shook his head. 'Where does she get the nerve...telling me around like that.' Jay put the paper down and opened the basket. It held two bottles, one containing coffee, the other was milk. There was a small container holding waffles. Another held bacon, sausage, eggs... There was even plain cheese and bread. He took the bacon and coffee, intending to save the rest for after. He ate quickly, and drank the coffee down. It was black coffee. He'd never like the bitterness of black coffee, but tolerated it for this. After he was finished, he put some extra Dust cartridges in the pockets of his cargo pants, and walked back out, into the large open room. He armed himself with Photos and Umbra. This being the last test, and the strength test, he decided he wanted to go all out. So he reached back, and clicked on the bayonet attachments to the handle side of each of the tonfas, so he could easily handle the test. He already had a suspicion as to what the test would be, and as the building shook, and the floor opened to reveal a rising platform, his suspicions were confirmed.

The floor rose, and on it, there were nearly two dozen Grimm. Jay's eyes flashed gold, and he counted them. Twenty exactly...Ten Beowulves, four Ursa Minor, two Ursa Major, three boarbatusks, and one King Taijitu. "Fucking perfect..." Jay muttered under his breath. Jay thought...'How should I take them all on?' He didn't have long, however, because they began to move immediately. Being the only other living thing in the room, Jay was what they targeted. 'Lucky I've equipped the bayonets,' Jay thought.

'Begin with the numerous Beowulves,' Jay thought. He dodged around the boarbatusks, who had began to charge him. The Beowulves had grouped together. 'Foolish creatures,' Jay thought, moving through one's neck with the bayonet. The King Taijitu attempted to attack him, but Jay saw it coming, and jumped over it. He brought his blades through two more Beowulves 'Three down.' The snake continued moving, but he only watched it, ignoring it's actions. One of the boartusks slammed into the body of the snake as Jay leaped over another part of it's long body. Jay shot three more as he came down, and as he landed, shot another, turning into two be-headings. The last one fell without difficulty, as Jay turned the tonfas on the handle and crushed the skull of the last one. 'Beowulves...Check.' Jay thought. He moved on to the annoying little boarbatusks. He watched one as it began to spin, and charge towards him. He spun on his heel, using his semblance to time his movement, he used Photos to stab the thing through the stomach as it spun to the point where it's stomach was facing up from the ground. The thing died instantly, and Jay spun Umbra, using the stave body to snap through the tusks of another as it passed, the thing would be down for about ten seconds. There were tiny dents in the body of Umbra, but as the Dust in the metal interacted with Jay's aura, the dents straightened out quickly. He jumped up to bring Umbra's blade edge on his elbows side, but one of the Ursa Major attacked him, throwing him to the side. He stumbled to his feet, and dodged the King Taijitu's attack, falling straight into the spinning attack of the third Boarbutusk. He was knocked hard onto his back, but he rolled back onto his knees quickly.

The seconds then spun slowly as in his head. Time slowed as he examined his thoughts at lightning speed...The Dark Voice made itself heard...'You know what we have to do. Jay. You're power isn't enough. We need to combine tactics. Undo our locks. Do it. Make us one, and together, our combined knowledge and stored skills will overcome this challenge. Jay...Don't ignore me...Jay...Jay?! JAY!' '...Fine.' Jay thought. He imagined it in his head...That's how he'd always done it. Used images and imagination to separate and store his thoughts. He imagined them. The locks. He imagined the Dark Voice. They walked around eachother in his head. The locks appeared around them, and as they walked in their circle, the locks began to break as they passed them. Finally the last lock broke, and they walked to the center of their circle. They took eachothers hands...And became one mind. Jay opened his eyes. His right eye remained it's golden color. The other...Turned a deep crimson red. Jay rose to his feet. Jay had realized when he made the Dark Voice that one day his power wouldn't be enough, and that he'd need both his ability...And the Dark Voice's. So he created this...The Neutral Zone. Where his mind opened to it's fullest, and his eyes opened with a complete and comprehensive view of the world. Like this, his Sight was stronger than it could ever be. 'Let's finish this.' Jay thought.

Jay crouched. 'Let them come.' He planned. The boarbutusks came first. He stood, with the blade ends out, and waited. They spun, but Jay easily deciphered the speed and pattern. As they came close enough, Jay slammed the bayonets through their skulls. They both died immediately. He threw his arms out, tossing the things to the side. The Dark Voices ability to break his own bones and rip his muscles to fight with his greatest strength and speed was tempered by the Light Voice's willingness to do only what he had to without damaging his body. Then he moved towards the Ursa. The King Taijitu tried to intervene, but it didn't work. Jay leaped over it, and shot the throats of two of the Ursa Minor. The fell dead, and the other two came at him. He knew he couldn't roll past them, where the Ursa Major would immediately kill him. Instead, he crouched slightly, bending his knees, then pushing up on them, brought the blades through the chins and into the heads of the Ursa Minor, and then leaned forward, and pushed them back off of the blades, into the Ursa Major. The Ursa Major stumbled back, and Jay took his opportunity. He crossed his arms over his chest, the blades extended outwards, and moved towards the Ursa Major. As he pushed off the ground, and threw his arms out, bringing the blades through their necks, cleanly cutting them off. Lastly, was the King Taijitu. Both of the heads came towards him, but Jay put his arms up and shot them in the faces. Over and over again, he pulled the triggers on the handles. It was easy hitting them square in the head, with his Semblance at full strength. After a moment he moved to the right, going for the white head. As it came towards him, he switched the orientation of the tonfas on the handles. He slammed the stave bodies though the things fangs, removing them. He the jumped up, and brought the blades through the thing's eyes, down into it's brain. 'One side down.' He thought. The other head came towards his back. Jay spun, still standing on the other's head. He switched the orientation of his tonfas once more, and crossed his arms across his chest. He pushed off, using everything he had left, every ounce of strength, pushing his body to the very limit of what he could...The blades swam cleanly through the thing's head as he surged past it. He landed ten feet past the King Taijitu as it's second head fell dead behind him. Every last Grimm on the field was slain...Jay fell forward, unconscious. He couldn't feel his hands or anything below his knees, but that would come back as soon as he woke...Whenever that would be...

* * *

><p>Jay's eyes opened slowly. He couldn't see though...For two reasons. One, he didn't have his glasses...For another, his eyes were foggy as is. He reached up to wipe the fog from his them, trying to focus. His eyes didn't want to open. He wanted to keep sleeping, but first he needed to know where he was. He drove himself to wake up, and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. On the bright side, the when he fell unconscious due to the Neutral Zone, the Dark Voice went dormant. He didn't lose his control. Jay opened his eyes and found Mickey sitting in a chair on the side of the room. He thought for a moment, then looked around. 'A hospital? Interesting.' Jay thought. Then it clicked in his head that Mickey had been sitting there. He snapped his head over to look at her, but pulled a muscle in his neck...His face contorted in pain, and he laid back on the hospital bed. Mickey stood and walked over. "What the hell happened in there? They said you fell unconscious after the final test. What happened? You push yourself to hard? And you didn't eat!" She gestured to the chair next to the one she sat in, where the basket was. "I had planned on saving it as a post-test refreshment...Thing..." Mickey looked at least a little calmed by this. "So what <strong>did <strong>happen back there?" Jay thought...Perhaps he should tell her. "I pulled out all the stops...I had to reach into a part of my head that I lock away...And use tactics and strength that I store there. It's kind of a...Mind Palace." Mickey's brow furrowed. "A what?" she asked incredulously. "It's a psychological technique...Basically I use imagery and imagination to...store data. I hide away things I can't remember. So that I can see them later. My mind palace actually takes the form of a person. A person who has all the things I don't...All the points of view that I don't hold to myself." Mickey considered this for a moment. "Like an alternate personality?" "Not really. We're the same person. He's not some freaky thing hiding in my head. He's more of a mindset. The mindset that isn't the one I take...All the views I personally don't think of as right. I hold on to them. To understand the world, you have to see it from both sides. And that's how I do it. By storing them in the mind palace that's in here." he finished, tapping the side of his head. That's when he realized that his hands were bandaged...He looked down, and removed the blanket. His legs were bound as well. "Doctors say you broke two of the small finger bones, one in each hand, ripped up your triceps, and broke the tibia in your right leg, and the fibia in your left. Some injuries. You apparently didn't notice that you were sustaining them, because there's straining on the bone edges from when you kept moving..." Jay thought about the injuries. Then another thought occurred to him "Mickey, why are you here? Surely you have better things to do?..." "You know...No one's excepted the job offering at my shop since you were there...I blame the media. That display you put on for the camera...The one they showed on the news...That's probably scared people off. I haven't had a single theft since...I haven't seen a single one of Torchwick's thugs since you drove him off. I have to thank you for that, actually. And after thinking about it, I realize that you took that statue to protect me, and I appreciate the thought. That's why I'm here. You looked out for my life, my store...Everything I have was that store ya' know...So yeah...I've got your back, Jay." Jay was a little surprised. "Thanks..."

That's when Headmaster Ozpin walked into the room, accompanied by the person Jay could only assume was his doctor. Ozpin walked up to the side of his bed, "You're awake now. Good. I would like to talk to you about your test results." Jay sat up in the bed, and prepared himself...His heart was beating, but he tried to ignore it. 'I did well,' he thought. 'I know it.' The Dark Voice spoke up for a moment, 'Of course you did, I was directly involved.' Ozpin's voice shook him from his thought though, "You did...Exceptionally. Your results were astonishing. Your skill level is up in the 90 percentile. You are...Very good." Jay's heart lifted...He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Mickey stood from her seat again, and walked over to Ozpin. "Does that mean your excepting him into Beacon Academy?" Ozpin turned to Mickey. "Ah, you're the woman who brought the basket...Are you Jay's mother?" he asked. "Not really. But I am his acting guardian...So? What's the verdict?" She pressed. Jay was frankly quite shocked at Mickey's display of...Well, guardianship. He thought about his mom at home...She'd probably want to shake Mickey's hand, and thank her...Ozpin spoke up to her questioning. "Well...Yes. With his capacity, I believe he would be perfect for Beacon Academy. However, the year has already started, and he will not be able to gain an entrance spot for at least four semesters." Jay thought...'Two years...I can wait that long...I just got into Beacon Academy after all...I can use the time to gain strength.' "Are you sure there's nothing for him sooner?" Mickey continued. "Currently, I'm afraid not. He'll simply have to wait." "I'm ok with waiting," Jay interjected into the conversation. Mickey looked at Jay. "...Ok then. Until then, you can come back to work at my shop. I still have an opening." "I'd be happy to..." Jay told her. "Well that went a little more smoothly than I'd imagined..." Ozpin said. "Oh! Headmaster Ozpin...Before you go, I have a favor to ask...I'm currently in possession of a dangerous, and highly sought after weapon. I will continue to keep it safe, but I would like to do so by placing in the care of the Beacon Staff...That way I can keep it guarded, and dissuade any pursuit of it, and also keep the target off of my own back." Jay looked at Mickey and smiled. "Better?" he asked her. "Much. Now you're not in danger. You'll do it. Right Ozpin?" It didn't sound like a question..."Of course," Ozpin assured her. With that, he walked from the room.

* * *

><p>Over the course of the next two years, Jay trained himself, and continued to study. Things seemed easy now...All of a sudden, Jay felt a strange feeling of peace. He worked at Mickey's shop, and Mickey did treat him like a kid to her...But he didn't mind it. In fact, when he wrote to his mother, he said that it made him feel a little better about not having her around. Jay continued his studies, and things seemed so simple. So simple that two years passed quickly. Finally the day came, when he would board the airship bound for Beacon Academy. He packed early, and got himself cleaned and dressed. Mickey called and told him not to head to the shop, but that they'd be going for breakfast before his departure. After a meal with his guardian, he walked to the airfield. He glanced around at all the people there boarding the ship. This was going to be one hell of an experience. He stole his mind, and brought forth his confidence. And with that, he walked calmly onto the airship. 'On to Beacon Academy,' Jay thought...<p> 


End file.
